Measurement of black carbon (BC) by an optical method and a thermal-optical method: Intercomparison for four sites

Comparison of black carbon (BC) measurements obtained by two methods was performed for aerosols samples collected on Whatman 41 (W-41) filters, using an optical method (Magee Scientific Optical Transmissometer Model OT-21) and a thermal-optical method (Sunset Laboratory Thermal-optical analyzer). Sa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric environment (1994) 2009-12, Vol.43 (40), p.6305-6311
Main Authors: Ahmed, Tanveer, Dutkiewicz, Vincent A., Shareef, Akhtar, Tuncel, Gurdal, Tuncel, Semra, Husain, Liaquat
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosols
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Black carbon
Carbon
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Light absorption
Mathematical models
Meteorology
Mountains
Pollution
Regression
Samples
Statistical analysis
Statistical methods
Transmissometer
Tungsten
Whatman 41
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Summary:Comparison of black carbon (BC) measurements obtained by two methods was performed for aerosols samples collected on Whatman 41 (W-41) filters, using an optical method (Magee Scientific Optical Transmissometer Model OT-21) and a thermal-optical method (Sunset Laboratory Thermal-optical analyzer). Samples were collected from four sites: Albany (a small urban site, NY), Antalya (coastal site, Turkey), Whiteface Mountain (remote site, NY) and Mayville (rural site, NY). At Albany, comparison between the two methods showed excellent agreement; a least-squares regression line yielded a slope of 1.02, and r 2 = 0.88. Similar comparisons at Antalya (slope of 1.02, r 2 = 0.5) and Whiteface Mountain (slope of 0.92 and r 2 = 0.58) also gave very good relationship. At Mayville, the relationship between the two methods yielded somewhat lower regression: a slope of 0.75, and r 2 = 0.44. The data from the four locations, when plotted together, yielded an excellent agreement: a slope of 0.91, and r 2 of 0.84. Based on our measurements, it appears that optical measurement using the OT-21 can be successfully applied to determination of BC in W-41 filters. However, because of the variability in the chemical composition of BC aerosol at different locations, it is suggested that the calibration of OT-21 when using W-41 filters should be performed with a statistically significant numbers of samples for specific sites.
ISSN:1352-2310
1873-2844
DOI:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.09.031